The 2021 season at Colorado National Speedway is drawing to a close, and the next few weeks will determine which drivers and teams leave as champions. Things kicked off on September 25th with the Matco Tools Pro Truck Championship night. Saturday night was packed full of double-headers, as each class had a set of two feature races on the schedule. During intermission, some of Matco’s own rigs were invited to lay down some laps on the racing surface between the night’s feature events. The night was finished by a pair of dusty Demo X races across the dirt hills in the infield, with the #48 car taking the win in the light class and the #01 winning the heavy class race.
MATCO TOOLS PRO TRUCKS
FEATURE PART 1 Eighty laps stood between the Matco Tools Pro Trucks contenders and the championship title, broken up into two segments of 50 and 30 laps respectively. The first feature began with championship contender Brian Yackey #22 on the pole. Yackey led the field to green, followed by Adam Deines #7 and Kody Vanderwal #43, both drivers also in the hunt for the season trophy. At first, it was all about the #22 and #7 trucks as they separated from the rest of the field. They were reined in as the track blazed yellow for a caution following a three-truck incident in Turn 4. The field went green once more, but before long another truck went around in Turn 2. Once things were cleaned up and the green flag waved again, Vanderwal #43 set out to track down Deines #7 and Yackey #22. Deines #7 truck lost some speed as the laps wound down, eventually retiring to the pits and damaging his championship hopes.
Meanwhile, Vanderwal #43 began to reel in the #22 truck of Yackey. Yackey’s pole-winning truck was quick, but not quick enough to fend off Vanderwal’s red and blue #43 machine. On the last lap, Vanderwal made the pass to capture the first Pro Trucks Feature win of the night.
FEATURE PART 2 Per CNS tradition, a young fan was invited from the grandstands to roll the dice that determines the fate of the front of the field. A three was rolled, and the top six finishers from the first feature were inverted, putting Vanderwal #43 back to the sixth position and Yackey #22 back to fifth. The #9 of Curtis Heldenbrand took the green flag, but found himself under fire from the former leaders. Yackey #22 took the lead away with Deines #7 right behind him. Deines #7 had his championship hopes dashed for good when #9 Heldenbrand went around in front of the field and collected the bright yellow #7 truck, forcing him to retire from the race.
The restart saw Yackey #22 and Vanderwal #43 duking it out for the lead once more, but Yackey’s truck had come to life and stretched out his lead over Vanderwal. An incident in Turn 2 collected several trucks, however, as the #85 Jeffrey Walbaum spun and the #28 Brian Weinmaster ran headfirst into him. Both drivers exited their trucks safely after the heavy hit, and the race resumed with #22 Yackey once again taking the lead. Vanderwal #43 did everything he could to track down the white #22 of Yackey, but it was Yackey who would take the checkered flag. Yackey #22 was credited with not only the second feature win, but was crowned the unofficial Matco Tools Pro Truck champion as well.
QUICK TIME: #22 Brian Yackey, 16.799 FEATURE PART 1: #43 Kody Vanderwal FEATURE PART 2: #22 Brian Yackey
ROCK ‘N’ ROLL BREWERY PURE STOCKS
FEATURE PART 1 The Rock ‘N’ Roll Brewery Pure Stock races were all about the #OH6 of Mahkrysta Hilton. After setting quick time, she led the field to the green flag for the first of two Pure Stock features. Nobody could touch Hilton’s #OH6 for the 30 lap race, even when a series of mid-race yellows occurred. The first yellow was thrown for a clean single-car incident in Turn 4 when the #76B Dylon Alvarado spun by himself. On the following restart, a couple more cars got into each other in Turn 4, and once that was cleaned up, yet another caution was called for a five-car pileup once again in Turn 4. When the track was cleared, Hilton #OH6 led the rest of the race. Her only competition was from the #4 Brian Galvin Jr., who went into the night with the overall points lead. The #OH6 was scored third in overall points, but first in the first feature race.
FEATURE PART 2 The second feature race was 20 laps, with the #8A of Austin Richards on the pole position. #OH6 Hilton and #4 Galvin quickly put pressure on the #8A machine, though. However, as the laps wound down, an issue with the #8A car became apparent as blue smoke billowed out from the back of the machine. He was shown the black flag, but apparently chose to ignore it and continued to lead the race as #OH6 Hilton tracked him down. With eight laps left on the board, Hilton #OH6 got fed up with the #8 and bumped him out of the way to take the race lead and never looked back. She crossed the finish line first with the smoking #8A Richards in tow, earning her second feature trophy of the night and second place in the overall points championship. Brian Galvin Jr., after quietly finishing fourth, took home the championship trophy.
QUICK TIME: #OH6 Mahkrysta Hilton, 19.754 FEATURE PART 1: #OH6 Mahkrysta Hilton FEATURE PART 2: #OH6 Mahkrysta Hilton
SUNOCO RACE FUELS GRAND AMERICAN MODIFIEDS
FEATURE PART 1 Domination was the theme for the Sunoco Race Fuels Grand American Modifieds. Kyle Clegg #51 set the quick time and earned the pole position and showed the way for the rest of the field throughout the race. The race was relatively clean with the only yellow being thrown for some debris on the track, but it was all about Clegg #51 under green. After a dominating performance, Clegg #51 took the double checkered flag and the first feature win, climbing the catch fence on the front stretch in celebration after the race.
FEATURE PART 2 The next feature, 25 laps, was led by the #24x Darren Robertson with pressure from the #13 Darin Clark and the #0 Ron O’Neil. Five laps in, the #2 Jim Douglas got into the car in front of him and wrecked and had to head into the pits, slowing the field with a yellow. When the race restarted, #51 Kyle Clegg showed some muscle and got after the #0 O’Neil for second position. The two traded paint a few times before #51 Clegg edged just ahead of him and set his sights on the leader #13 Clark. As the laps ticked by, #51 Clegg raced #13 Clark hard, eventually wearing him out and taking the race lead. A last-lap incident involved the #4 Zach Mullins and former leader #13 Clark. Kyle Clegg parked his #51 car on the front stretch and once again climbed the catch fence to celebrate, while the #0 O’Neil did burnouts on the back stretch in celebration of his winning the championship.
Joe Prante DEMOX Lite winner
Shawn Orth DEMOX Heavy winner
OFFICIAL RESULTS
Pro Truck Feature 1 Pos No. Name Hometown 1. 43 Kody Vanderwal LaSalle CO 2. 22 Brian Yackey Greeley 3. 33 Tyler Davis Thornton CO 4. 16 Travis Roe Thornton 5. 50 Tyler Wiggans Peyton CO 6. 9 Curtis Heldenbrand Westminster CO 7. 29 Dalton Webb (R) Thornton CO 8. 28 Brian Weinmaster Brighton CO 9. 85 Jeffrey Walbaum Brighton CO 10. 11 Steve Johnson Loveland CO 11. 34 Rudy Vanderwal LaSalle CO 12. 89 Zach Morris (R) Greenwood Village 13. 3C Cassidy Hinds Arvada CO 14. 7 Adam Deines Longmont CO
Pro Truck Feature 2 Pos No. Name Hometown 1. 22 Brian Yackey Greeley 2. 43 Kody Vanderwal LaSalle CO 3. 16 Travis Roe Thornton 4. 33 Tyler Davis Thornton CO 5. 11 Steve Johnson Loveland CO 6. 3C Cassidy Hinds Arvada CO 7. 50 Tyler Wiggans Peyton CO 8. 34 Rudy Vanderwal LaSalle CO 9. 85 Jeffrey Walbaum Brighton CO 10. 29 Dalton Webb (R) Thornton CO 11. 28 Brian Weinmaster Brighton CO 12. 9 Curtis Heldenbrand Westminster CO 13. 7 Adam Deines Longmont CO 14. 89 Zach Morris (R) Greenwood Village
Grand American Modifieds Feature 1 Pos No. Name Hometown 1. 51 Kyle Clegg (R) Hudson 2. 0 Ron O’Neil Colorado Springs 3. 59 Charles Wilson Penrose 4. 13 Darin Clark Cheyenne 5. 24x Darren Robertson 6. 9 CJ Wilson (R) Penrose 7. 37 Landon Birney Cheyenne 8. 89 Jacob Smith (R) Littleton 9. 6 Scotty Scott (R) Arvada 10. 2 Jim Douglas Colorado Springs 11. 17 Holly Clark (R) Colorado Springs 12. 82 Justin Karrol LaSalle 13. 41 Eric Vos Wheatridge 14. 88 Brad Skufca 15. 1G Dale Geist Colorado Springs 16. 4 Zach Mullins Greeley DNS 22 Travis Rudolph
Grand American Modifieds Feature 2 Pos No. Name Hometown 1. 51 Kyle Clegg (R) Hudson 2. 13 Darin Clark Cheyenne 3. 0 Ron O’Neil Colorado Springs 4. 9 CJ Wilson (R) Penrose 5. 24x Darren Robertson 6. 59 Charles Wilson Penrose 7. 37 Landon Birney Cheyenne 8. 6 Scotty Scott (R) Arvada 9. 17 Holly Clark (R) Colorado Springs 10. 82 Justin Karrol LaSalle 11. 41 Eric Vos Wheatridge 12. 88 Brad Skufca 13. 4 Zach Mullins Greeley 14. 1G Dale Geist Colorado Springs 15. 89 Jacob Smith (R) Littleton 16. 2 Jim Douglas Colorado Springs DNS 22 Travis Rudolph
Pure Stock Feature 1 Pos No. Name Hometown 1. OH6 Mahkrysta Hilton Brighton 2. 4 Brian Galvin Jr Byers 3. 34 Ronald Johnson Westminster 4. 8A Austin Richards Arvada 5. 5C Kyle Carrasco (R) Hudson 6. 21 Jamie Ward Denver 7. M60 Morris Christner (R) Elizabeth 8. 8 Isaac Almaswari (R) Brighton 9. 02 Chan Raley Bennett 10. 15 Brendon Knowles Highlands Ranch 11. 46 Rich Barwinski Casa Grande AZ 12. 9 Cole Baker (R) 13. 22 AJ Hill Brighton 14. 2W Brandon Williams Westminster 15. 38C Colton Green Arvada 16. 41G Topher Galvin Byers 17. OH7 Aubrei Hilton Brighton 18. 23G Michael Gallo Loveland 19. 14g Brian Galvin Byers 20. 12 Ethan Sluder Hudson 21. 76B Dylon Alvarado (R) Fort Lupton
Pure Stock Feature 2 Pos No. Name Hometown 1. OH6 Mahkrysta Hilton Brighton 2. 34 Ronald Johnson Westminster 3. 4 Brian Galvin Jr Byers 4. 15 Brendon Knowles Highlands Ranch 5. M60 Morris Christner (R) Elizabeth 6. 14g Brian Galvin Byers 7. 41G Topher Galvin Byers 8. OH7 Aubrei Hilton Brighton 9. 8 Isaac Almaswari (R) Brighton 10. 02 Chan Raley Bennett 11. 2W Brandon Williams Westminster 12. 22 AJ Hill Brighton 13. 76B Dylon Alvarado (R) Fort Lupton 14. 46 Rich Barwinski Casa Grande AZ 15. 9 Cole Baker (R) 16. 38C Colton Green Arvada 17. 23A Alyssa Salazar Arvada 18. 21 Jamie Ward Denver 19. 12 Ethan Sluder Hudson 20. 8A Austin Richards Arvada DNS 23G Michael Gallo Loveland DQ 5C Kyle Carrasco (R) Hudson